


31 Days of Apex 2020

by Mozambique_and_a_dream



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: 31 Days of Apex (Apex Legends), Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:42:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 15,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25111078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mozambique_and_a_dream/pseuds/Mozambique_and_a_dream
Summary: My short drabbles for the 31 days of Apex!
Comments: 5
Kudos: 54





	1. Day 1: Memory

**....**

**...**

**..**

**_Accessing memory hard drive_ **

**_0:00:01_ **

The screen on his chest flickers to life, a loading icon appears as the engines begin to whir. His audio receptors start first. Picking up silence. Next, his optics. The light from the screen the only thing illuminating the dark, empty room.

“Hello?” his robotic voice speaks. “I am MRVN! But you programmed me to go by Pathfinder!” There is no response. That is odd. He can tell his system is unique, made with care, and love. Why was no one here? “Hello?”

Soon, the robot gains control of his motor functions and steps out of his containment unit. The room gives no clues to why he is alone.

“Creator?” They should be here, shouldn’t they? Pathfinder finds a door, leading out of the dark prison, and onto a bustling street.

“Hello!” the robot chirps to the first human he sees. “Are you my creator?” The human pushes past. “Okay, thanks!” He takes a few steps, walking up to the next one. “Hello! Are you my creator?”

“Hey MRVN!” a different human voice calls out. He spins his head to see the human tossing a full can of beer at him. It hits his chest, sending liquid pouring down his front. The human laughs, but the robot simply bends down and picks up the now empty can, smiley face ever so present on his chest.

“Friend! You dropped this!” But the human had already taken off. “Wait! Do you know my-“ The screen flicks to a sad face. “That’s okay. I’ll find them!”

_**End of first log** _

**..**

**...**

**....**

“That’s right... I’ll find them.”


	2. Day 2: Blood

Mama always told her, never let your talents go unnoticed. Or unpaid.

Now, when she was little she had assumed Mama was talking about stuff like singing or dancing. But turns out her talents belong in a field that was so obscure, she was still a little mortified on its existence.

Senior Blood Cleaner for the Apex Games. That was her title. A couple more years of bloodsport, and that would turn into Head, or even Director of the department.

She had been cleaning the messes for quite some time now that there was not a mess she hadn’t seen. Battles fought between a dozen teams in the buildings of Skulltown, blood splattered on the garbage in Slum Lakes, blood on the walls of Bunker that once mixed with the iconic, corrosive gas, became even harder to remove.

But even with all of this, there was not a single stain left behind when she was done. She was the reason the games didn’t have to replace the tiles of Market every time a grenade blasted a legend to pieces across the building. Thanks to her, supply bins didn’t need to be taken out of the arena for cleaning and sanitizing. Simply toss the body aside and use her special solution of water and chemicals and the loot to be put inside will have no traces of the lives taken beside it. Just how the fans liked it.

After work, she can be found bragging about what she saw inside the arena that day, her friends increasingly jealous that she got to touch the corpse of Mirage as they took him to go be respawned. A dirty cloth used to clean blood from Gibraltar still sat framed in other friends house after he begged her for months wanting a souvineer.

She was good at her job. And luckily, she knew it would last her all the way to retirement. As long as there was a demand for watching blood, there would be a demand for someone like her to keep cleaning it.


	3. Day 3: Mercy

They had never let an opponent slip their grasp. Once Blóðhundr laid eyes on an enemy, there would be no stopping them, or the hunt.

Team long forgotten in the depths of Swamps, they stalk every movement of the team ahead of them. The team headed towards Market, passing through the craters in the ground left behind from the gentle giants.

They run a hand across the dirt, putting a line through a boot print while looking ahead. From the spacing of the steps, Bloodhound could tell the team knew they were coming. They were panicked, wanting to put as much space as possible between them and the hunter.

A test of their strength, which they considered a blessing. They mutter a thanks to the gods and stand, launching into a sprint.

The team ahead is scrambling through Market, looking for something, anything that would give them an advantage. One is left separated from the team. Bent over a backpack attempting to pile as many shield cells as possible inside.

“Your final hour cannot be escaped, embrace it,” they speak softly, hand gripping the axe they wield with pride. The enemy spins their head at the sound of an unfamiliar voice, but there is no chance to even equip a weapon before the axe meets their throat.

The body crumpled to the ground just as the sound of the teammates are approaching from outside. The hunter silently moves over to beside the door, patiently waiting for it to swing open. The voices outside are concerned, calling for a teammate that no longer lived.

The door opens and in peeks the end of a Mastiff. Without hesitation, Bloodhound grabs the barrel, twisting the arm holding it till they heard a loud pop, followed by a cry of pain. They twist till the gun is pointed towards the second person entering the room so that when the person holding the weapon fires, they merely shoot their own teammate.

Swiftly, they kick out the knees of the person in their grasp, and as he falls to the ground, they put a hand on either side of his head, and twist.

The last member of the squad left behind a trail of blood. He had backed himself into a corner, clutching his stomach rather than a gun. The hunter approached axe back in hand.

“Please!” the man cried. “Have mercy!” Bloodhound tilted their head as they placed the blade of the axe on the man's throat. They could see the terror in his eyes.

“I am not the one you should be asking for mercy,” they hummed. “May the gods bless you.”


	4. Day 4: Prize

Today’s match had gone off the rails. And it was his fault. His decoys malfunctioned the entire time, short circuiting every time he tried to summon one, electrocuting himself in the process. How was he supposed to know his gear wasn’t waterproof? And to top it all off, the incident had now turned him into a giant laughing stock throughout the Outlands.

Mirage sighed as he shut the door to his room, leaning up against it. Everything was still sore, including his ego. He wanted nothing more than to just collapse into bed and hide from the world. Maybe if he stayed in bed long enough, everyone would forget how much of an idiot he was.

His moms birthday was coming up in a few weeks. He was supposed to win today, to get some extra prize money so he could put together the perfect gift for her. And to give her more things that would help her around the house. Now he was going to have to dip into his savings fund. His phone buzzed and the screen light up with a picture of his mom. Great. Mirage quickly shut the phone off and threw a pillow over his head, shutting his eyes in hopes to stop the tears welling up. He made a fool of himself in her tech.

“A disappointment to all, once again,” he muttered, rolling over in his bed. “Why can’t I do anything right?!”

The next time he moved was nearly an hour later, when there was a loud knocking on his door.

“Friend!!” a chipper voice could be heard from the other side.

“I’m not in the mood, Path!” Elliott called back, not bothering to even get out of bed.

“But I got more kills than you today! According to your friendship rules, that means you owe me a drink!!”

Great. Not only did the robot do better than him, he was drinking now. Maybe if he said nothing, he would go away and leave him to his pity party.

“Best friend? I brought the drinks!!”

“That’s not how it’s supposed to work, Path,” Elliott sighed, now getting up to open the door. A drink, or ten, sounded good right about now. He swung the door open and the MRVN happily trotted inside, the same, stupid smiling face on his chest. For a moment, Mirage was briefly amused watching the robot grab two glasses and poured the drinks. Elliott downed his in one gulp. Path’s screen displayed an exclamation point as he watched Elliott pour another, drinking it twice as fast.

“Are you okay, friend?”

“O-of course!! I’m exta-extra-tactic, I’m great! Just fine.” Pathfinder’s screen went back to the usual smiley face.

“Me too!” Elliott huffed and went back to his drink just as his phone lit up with another call from his mother. Guilt bubbled in his stomach as he set the phone down, wanting the call to go to voice mail. Pathfinder, however, had been taught that it was rude to not answer the phone. “Hello there!” he chirped into the phone, before Elliott had the chance to protest. “Oh, hello Mrs. Witt! It’s Pathfinder! Elliott?”

“Tell her I’m not here!” Elliott quickly whispered.

“Elliott says he’s not here!” Mirage put a hand on his face. “Okay! I’ll tell him! I love you!” Pathfinder put the phone down. “Your mother would like you to call her back!”

“Is she mad about the gear?” Elliott said with a wince. Pathfinder shook his head.

“She wanted to remind you to grab your brothers dry cleaning on your way home for his concert tomorrow!”

“Oh.” Elliott’s heart sunk.

“That doesn’t make sense!” Path pointed out a second later, having thought about the messages contents and what he knew about his best friend. He glanced back at Mirage, who was now trying to fight back the tears forming in his eyes. “Friend?” Elliott looked at the ground, embarrassed. “Do you want a high-five? A hug?” There was no response from Elliott, so Path decided the best course of action was a hug.

Elliott wanted to protest, to push the bot away, but as odd as it was, the robot gave a rather surprisingly good hug. The warmth emitting from his screen providing a comfort he didn’t know he craved.

“My team won the match today!” Path said after a few seconds of silence.

“Wow.” Mirage deadpanned, now pulling back from the hug. “Well, that definitely cheers me up.”

“And, I remembered you telling me your moms birthday was coming up, so I decided I should use some of my prize money to buy her a present! It’s not ready yet, the artist has to paint it, but here’s what it will look like!!” Path’s screen displayed a rough drawing. It was him and Path, and in the middle, his mom. “What do you think? Do you think she will like it?” Elliott looked at the painting, stunned anyone would do this for him, for her. He quickly wiped his eyes before any tears had the chance to fall.

“Oh Path, she’s going to love it.” The robot displayed a smiling face once again. “You used your prize money for it?”

“Of course! That way, it’s like we all can have a prize!” he held his drink up, “Cheers?” Elliott rolled his eyes, but still put up his drink and clinked Path’s glass, remembering why he was so lucky to call this robot his friend.

“You do know that you can’t drink, right tin can?”


	5. Day 5: Family

There was a small package sitting outside the door to his house. He picked it up with a grin, day instantly better upon reading the scribbled name of the sender on top. It had been awhile since they had sent him one, a care package as the little ones would say with a giggle.

Makoa put the package on his table while he changed out of his gear from the game, still covered in blood. He had lead his team to victory, literally carrying both of them on his shoulders till they could find more healing supplies. The last ring closed outside of Drill Site and it was his bombardment that finished off the last squad. It had been a good day. And it was about to get even better.

Not caring for the wrapping paper, Gibraltar tore open the package, eager to get inside. Sitting on the top was a hand written note. Picking it up revealed that the rest of the package was filled to the brim with his favourite candies. His grin was wide as he threw a couple in his mouth before opening the letter. A few drawings clearly done by children, and a couple pictures fell out. They were of a birthday party. Sitting in the middle was his younger niece, who had just turned two, cake covering her face and hands, but her smile as huge as Makoa’s. In the background Makoa could make out the other seven children in the water. He looked back down at the letter,

_My son,_

_I hope this package finds you well, I know how challenging it can be to get mail all the way over to Talos. As you know, Lani finally turned two a couple of days ago. Having the whole family running around the house nearly drove your mother mad, but we both had such a good time seeing them all._

_All of your siblings wish you well, and the little ones wanted you to have the left over sweets from the party. We are all looking forward to your big game next week, I hope it goes well! Take care and enjoy the sweets,_

_Love Pops <3_

Makoa chuckled at the heart his father had drawn at the end of the letter, holding the paper close to his chest.

God did he miss them. At least when the games were on Solace he was able to make it to all of the events, birthday parties, family dinner every Sunday... the last time he had seen little Lani she had just turned one.

Tears threatened to fall down Makoa’s face so he quickly folded the letter, gently placing it back on top of the box of sweets.

He thought back to the game today, knowing it was the one his father talked about in his letter. He could close his eyes and see his siblings, cousins, nieces and nephews all packed in his parents living room watching. They were his biggest fans. He would do anything to be able to see them, to give each and every one of them a giant bear hug.

Maybe he could find a way to get home. He would do anything just for a day with some of them, to tell them how much he loved them. But would it be possible? The games made it nearly impossible to get the time to fly all the way back to Solace. Although, his teammates did say today after the win that they owed him one....

Makoa grabbed some more candy and headed back out the door. He had some strings to pull.


	6. Day 6: Noise

“What the hell was that?” Jacob Young, Director of Public Relations for the Apex Games exclaimed. A loud explosion had just been heard from the canyon, not that far from the control center where Young sat now. 

“Probably just one of Gibraltar’s air-” an intern started to say, cutting themselves off as the noise continued into a low rumble, the ground starting to shake, even from here. Jacob Young lept out of his chair, running towards the balcony that had a view of King’s Canyon. From there, he could see the edges of Thunderdome collapsing into the waters below.

“Oh no, no, no!” he shouted. “You’ve got to be shitting me!” He took off into a sprint towards the control room. “Someone cut the cameras!” His phone had already started buzzing, dozens of people wondering what was going on, expecting him to tell them. The people in the control room were also yelling, none of them sure about what was happening either. Many of the cameras in the arena had now cut out, some obeying Jacob’s order to shut them off, others getting destroyed as the map continued to crumble around them. 

On the cameras that still remained, they could see some of the still surviving legends looking as frantic as Jacob felt. Many of them unsure whether to keep firing at each other or to move away from the ground collapsing under their feet. Some were doing both. 

God, this was going to be a nightmare to clean up. 

“Which one of them did this?!” Jacob Young yelled to the people in the camera room. None of them knew the answer, but Young knew that he was going to kill whichever one of them it was. They had just put the place back together after Repulser blew. Did they not realize how much of a PR disaster that was?! 

And this one, this one, was taking Skulltown down! Jacob knew how much the media ate up anything and everything that happened in Skulltown. Legends too. It was a fan favourite! He could already hear the shouts of the reporters asking him questions he wouldn’t have the answers to and legends bombarding him with demands for him to fix it all as if he had some sort of magical rebuilding powers. And of course, the director was nowhere to be seen. Young doubted even this would bring Blisk back. 

“What do you want us to do?” a voice asked Jacob. He threw his hands up into the air in defeat, deciding to head back out to the balcony where he could watch Skulltown crumble alongside his career. 

Why didn’t he quit after Repulser? Or after the mess with Revenant and Hammond?

He put his hands on the balcony and sighed long and deep. He was so, so tired. And at that moment, he decided that whoever was responsible for today’s destruction of property was going to pay.

Jacob Young would get his revenge. And, hopefully, a vacation.


	7. Day 7: Mask

Mirage looked good. I mean, he always looked good, but tonight, tonight he looked good. He had been looking forward to tonight the entire month, spent at least two working out what he was going to wear.

The costume was perfect. After debating and debating, he had decided on a cowboy. I mean, who doesn’t love cowboys? He fiddled with one of the buttons on the blue shirt, trying to decide how many to leave open. Satisfied with neither, he grabbed the red bandana that was supposed to be around his arm and hung it around his neck.

“Oh yeah,” he said, giving the mirror some finger guns. Now he was ready.

Elliott made his way to the party, excited to see what the rest of the legends had decided to wear. It wasn’t often that the organizers for the games let them be in charge of their own outfits, but it was a holiday after all. Sort of. Is Halloween a holiday? Mirage shrugged at his own thought, checking his phone again to see if his robot friend had texted him back about how great he looked in his costume. There was no message, which was weird for Path.

“Probably got caught up chasing a butterfly,” he muttered to himself.

The party was in full swing by the time he arrived. Fashionably late, just how he liked it. Mirage checked his hair in the reflection of the glass doors and walked inside. The press noticed his arrival and quickly started snapping photos, asking about his costume.

“Oh yeah, this one was all me!” Mirage exclaimed, feeling ecstatic that his costume was well received. He flashed a few more grins, made a few decoys, and gave his signature smile, and walked into the party.

Tonight was going to be a great night. Elliott was excited to have a night out on the town. The games had kept him so busy as of late, he hardly had any time to himself. Now, thanks to the party, he could enjoy a great night off with some of his friends. He noticed a few of the legends milling around the bar. Wraith already three appliances in, Bangalore already taking off her costume makeup, and Bloodhound-

Oh no. No, no, no. They weren’t, oh God, they were weren’t they?

“Greetings, feligi,” they said walking up to him. Elliott’s heart was racing, this couldn’t be happening. “Do you like my mask?” He was at a loss for words.

“I, uh,” Elliott stuttered, trying to think of something cool and totally normal to say so that they wouldn’t suspect anything, but at that moment, there was only one-word Mirage could get out. “P-pumpkin.”


	8. Day 8: Healing

“See Che, still alive!” Octane exclaimed, popping a syringe. He had a wicked grin on his face as he applied new shields, getting back to full health. He was now the new kill leader, having wiped two squads using just a Mozambique. The fans were no doubt already going crazy, the press was going to love him. Octane waited for a response in his coms after his comment, expecting a snarky reply about how he shouldn’t run off by himself, trying to take down entire teams all alone, only no comment came. “Che?” 

Octane looked down at his minimap, wondering what his squadmates had gotten into. He realized he had strayed rather far from the two of them, having run off in Runoff, and making it all the way to the top Cage. His eyes scanned the holoscreen, trying to find the two little dots that represented his teammates.

“Mierda,” he mumbled under his breath upon seeing only one little dot. It was Ajay. And she was injured. Oh, she was going to be so mad at him. The ring was closing in just a minute. “Mierda!” Octane now shouted. He could already see her scowling face of her after the match, angry for leaving her to bleed out in the ring. That couldn’t happen. He could get to her in time, no, he had to get to her in time. 

He was still trying to make up for his stunt back in the other dimension. That was the whole reason he was running around with a Mozambique this match, wanting to prove to her that he definitely could have taken those prowlers with the weapon. He knew he could’ve done it, too. But in his haste to find the pieces, he hadn’t brought himself enough stim, and once again she had to go rescue AND heal him. He would never admit it, but thinking about Che always going out of her way, putting herself in danger to save him, left a weird feeling in his stomach. 

If he were to be able to save her in the game today, carry her to victory, maybe, just maybe he could make that weird feeling go away. Or, maybe he was just hungry. And sometimes, she did keep snacks in her pockets, just for him. 

Luckily, today Octane still had plenty of stim. He unhooked a vial from around his belt and injected it directly into his bloodstream. Next, he grabbed one of his jump pads, and threw it to the bottom of Cage. Landing a jump from this height would give him a great speed boost. 

“Don’t worry Che!” he exclaimed, taking off full speed. “I’m coming!” He closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of flying through the air, he felt so free, so alive, so, so, so,  _ way off _ from the jump pad. Did he turn his jump-kit back on? Cause if he didn’t, that meant… 

“Well, shit.”


	9. Day 9: Weapon

There was nothing. Absolutely nothing on the ground of Skulltown. His best friend Mirage had wanted to land there, thinking it would be a good idea, and of course his best friend always knew best! Only, the robot began to wonder if the lack of weapons for them and the countless amounts of teams there were part of his plan. 

Their third teammate, Caustic, seemed to be annoyed at Pathfinder’s best friend for picking such a populated location, claiming that he had not brought enough gas canisters for everyone. 

“You know what they say!” Pathfinder exclaimed into their coms. “Sharing is caring friend!” On the other end, Caustic huffed.

“Do either of you imbeciles have a weapon yet?” 

“Uhh, I’m working on it!” Mirage practically shouted, sounding very nervous. Pathfinder split off from his best friend, going into another building in hopes that there were some scraps laying around that he could use to defend his best friends with. His screen flickered to a face with heart eyes upon seeing an actual gun lying on the floor.

“Don’t worry friend!” he happily said. “I found a Mozambique!”

“Oh goody,” Mirage deadpanned. “We’re saved.” Not noticing the sarcasm, Pathfinder flashed his best friend a thumbs up through a window before running over to where Caustic was. He could hear the sounds of the bad friends struggling to get through it, to get away from the corrosive gas. 

“I require assistance,” Caustic muttered into the coms. 

“I’ll save you!” Pathfinder stood, Mozambique at the ready, waiting for the people to walk out of the gas. To everyone’s surprise, each of them only took one bullet for the shotgun before going down. Before they knew it, the team was eliminated. 

“What the Hell just happened?!” Mirage exclaimed, seeing the bodies around Pathfinder as he went to revive their third. 

“I saved us!” 

“With just a Mozambique?” 

“A Mozambique AND a dream!”


	10. Day 10: Truth

The mission had been the same as the rest. They provided a target, he provided a price, and by the end of the day, things were taken care of. If he would’ve know that this was going to happen, he would’ve turned the job down. 

Everything had been going fine. Sure, they were putting up a little more struggle than most. He had no problem taking out the added security around the target, knowing he could use it to increase his payoff at the end of the day; hazard pay and all. 

But what he wasn’t expecting was that mirror. It had been there the whole time, only, something happened to it. Looking in that mirror felt like he was in a fun house, but the distorted version of himself looking back… It wasn’t, couldn’t be him.Was it? 

The mirror in front of him shattered into pieces. He put his hands down on the sink. His hands were bleeding from the shards. Wait, no, they weren’t. Flashes of bleeding flesh mixing with those of a red, metal hand before his eyes. 

What was real? Which was the truth? 

A fist met the space where the mirror in the bathroom had stood. Maybe if he hit it hard enough, he would break a couple bones. That would prove it. That he had bones. Real bones.  _ Human  _ bones. 

A deep, guttural scream emitted from his throat as he punched a hole right through to the other side of the wall, into the living room. He could see the reflection of the T.V through it. And looking back… 

He ripped the T.V right off of the wall, throwing it as far as he could across the room, causing it to lodge itself on the far wall of his apartment. He hadn’t been that strong before… had he? 

His mind was running rampant, turning ideas over and over and over. This shouldn’t be happening. This wasn’t even possible! He looked back down at his hands, forcing his eyes to focus. If he could focus he would be able to see that nothing was different. The ache in his head grew and grew the longer he looked, his mind unable to decide on an image to show him.

Finally, there was one thing that stayed consistent, over top of the flickering images. A logo. Hammond Robotics. He realized he needed to find them. Now. 

They would know the truth. 


	11. Day 11: Shield

Five squads left. The ring was closing around Airbase and it was just the two of them left, the third having ran off at the start of the match. Currently, the two were huddled up inside one of the buildings in the small village outside of Bunker. 

“What’s the plan, friend?” the peppy voice of Pathfinder said. Mirage looked around at their situation. Two teams were still battling outside, neither of them had enough ammo to last a fight, and they definitely did not have enough healing supplies if one of them were to get shot. 

“The plan?” Mirage repeated. “Um… I, uh… What do you want to do?” 

“Whatever you want to do!” The trickster put a hand on his face, starting to regret not chasing after their third teammate and getting taken out early. 

Outside, the sound of Bangalore dropping an airstrike echoed through the small room they were sitting in. One of the missiles lodged itself into the roof above them, the explosion causing Mirage to jump.

“I say we get out of here!” he exclaimed. 

“Great idea, friend! Do you want me to set a zipline?” The sounds of footsteps were getting closer and closing, the fighting outside now stopped. 

“Yup! That would be ter-tear-treeific, great!” Pathfinder gave him a thumbs up, quietly opening up the door. If only the sound of a zipline was as quiet as the door as the second he placed it the team nearby started making their way over. 

“Get ready!” Pathfinder started. “It’s zip-”

“Great! Let’s go!” Mirage interrupted, jumping onto the zipline. Pathfinder hopped on after him, not wanting to get too far from his best friend. 

However, since he was at the back of the zipline, the shots from the enemy team ended up hitting him. By the time he reached the other side of the zipline, his shields had cracked, and a few bullets had punctured some of his metal. 

“Friend?” Path asked, now struggling to keep up with his friend. 

“Yeah buddy?” 

“Do you have any shield cells?” Mirage spun around to look at Path, seeing the condition of the robot. 

“Nope. Just the shield on my back.” 

“Oh…” Path said. “T-that’s okay.” Mirage nodded and spun back around, wanting to get further into the ring, but he couldn’t stop himself from looking back. The screen on Pathfinder’s chest still displayed a face with heart eyes, as it had been doing since they had been selected to be on a team together. 

“Path…?” 

“Yes best friend?” 

“Here,” Mirage muttered. “Take my shield.”


	12. Day 12: Ruins

They were pacing. They didn’t mean to be, they weren’t even aware that they were doing it, their mind too busy fighting back thoughts of unwanted feelings, memories. Having picked up their desired loot, they now were simply circling the base of the ruins, or rather Epicenter, as deemed by the game officials.

Their team just had to land here, didn’t they? Bloodhound regretted not arguing over a better landing spot, the robot who had picked it had already ran off, claiming the desire for more skinsuits to tear. They debated running off as well. The idea of engaging in battle seemed like a wonderful distraction. 

However, they couldn’t leave the third teammate alone. Not when he was too focused trying to figure out what gun to carry, looking almost as nervous as they felt as he looked between a Longbow and a Charge Rifle, brows furrowed in thought. If he could just decide, they could leave and they would no longer have to think about... 

“Mirage!” they finally said, louder than they had intended. “Please, pick a weapon.” Mirage spun his head around, looking almost surprised to see Bloodhound standing there. 

“R-right!” he exclaimed. “Uh, Longbow it is!” 

“Good, now we should get-”

“Oh, wait, I think I’d rather the Charge-” Mirage looked up again to see them staring at him. “Sorry.” 

“The ring is going to be closing shortly. Revenant has already tore his way through the Fragments,” they said, now fiddling with the axe that was around their belt. 

“Boy, you really want to get out of here, hey?” Their grip on the axe tightened, knuckles now white. He wouldn’t understand. He couldn’t even begin to understand. This place, these ruins, the lives that it took when it- “Hound?” Mirage interrupted their thoughts again. “You okay?” 

“Take the Longbow,” they replied. “The Charge Rifle is….” Well, that was a whole different wave of memories they didn’t want to get into. Not now. And definitely not here. “Your aim is better with the Longbow.” 

“Oh, so you’ve been watching me snipe?” Mirage teased. “I bet it is quite the show.” Bloodhound remained silent. “Oh-kay! Yeah, let’s go, pal.” Bloodhound was already halfway up the ridge leading to Fragments. Once at the top they slowed down, turning around to watch Mirage struggle to run through the snow while carrying the large weapon. At the top of the hill, he flopped down, out of breath. 

“Felagi-”

“One minute,” he heaved, now taking off one of his shoes to dump snow out of it. “Beautiful isn’t it?” he said a minute later. 

“The ruins?” 

“Yeah! I mean, it probably didn’t look this cool before whatever happened happened…” 

“It didn’t,” they muttered. The trickster looked up at the hunter, looking slightly confused. “I, uh, it must’ve been rather bland,” they quickly tried to cover, although now they were thinking about what he had said. “I suppose it is.” 

“Huh?” 

“Beautiful. Ruins are proof that nature is able to recover, reclaim itself after mankind destroys it. Perhaps we can honour those who fell with it by appreciating what it is now.” They hadn’t thought about it that way before. Bloodhound offered a hand down to Mirage, helping him out of the snow. They put a hand on his shoulder. “Now, I believe Revenant is about to go down, we might want to consider going to get him.”


	13. Day 13: Hero

For as long as I can remember, he is always looking out for me. Not that I needed him to, I did just fine on my own, but there's something special about knowing he is always right behind me, no matter what. 

One of my first memories, I was probably two or three at the time, Pops was getting redeployed. I didn’t understand why he had to go, hell I don’t think he was old enough to understand either, but he was the one to sneak into my room at night, staying with me till the sun came up, making me feel safe, loved.

I was seven when I got myself too far up in a tree with no way back down. He was the one who climbed up to come get me. And the one who held my hand even though he was the one getting the cast on his leg, and the scolding from Ma. 

At thirteen I was… rambunctious to say the least. Mad at my brothers for leaving me behind, angry that I knew what my calling was but I was still too young to get there. He was always the one to come pick me up from the principal's office, the one to sign the detention slips, skipping his own classes to make sure I got back into mine.

When he got deployed, there was a letter waiting for me every Tuesday. He’s old school like that. Wanted to know how I was doing, being the only one left in the house with Ma and Pops. Checking in on how school was, if I was keeping up with routines, my latest scores on the firing range (which were always better than his). Even at war, he wanted to make sure I was staying out of trouble

Once the two of us were together out there, out on the battlefield, we were unstoppable. Though those days I was more of his hero than he was mine, dumbass never could hit his shots with the 99, having him by my side made the longer nights, the long trips, the homesickness feel like distant emotions. 

And now… 

I’m to one who needs to save my hero, to find him in whatever mess he’s found his way into. Although, knowing Jackson… Jackie, he’s probably looking just as hard to get to me.


	14. Day 14: Rest

“Aye, there ya go Silva. Na’ go home an’ get some rest, ya hear?” Ajay Che said, tying the last of the bandages around Octavio’s arm after his latest stunt in the area today. 

“Me, chica?” Octane laughed. “I never need to rest! You on the other hand…”

“What's that supposed ta mean?” 

“Uh, nothing? Thanks for the fix!” he quickly exclaimed, bolting out of the room just as fast. Ajay folded her arms in front of her chest with a sigh. She did need a break. Not that she would ever admit to Octavio that he was right about something, but the bags under her eyes were getting more noticeable as the days dragged on and on. 

Ajay closed her eyes, putting her hands down on the counter of Mirage’s bar, trying to get her thoughts together.

With everything going on between Loba, Revenant, and the pieces, the rest of the legends had expected her to be the one to take care of them all. Ajay hadn’t had a full nights sleep since they got moved back to Solace. Sure, she was glad to finally have more time to spend helping the folks at the Frontier Corps, but then when Skulltown came barrelling down…

“Che?” Ajay’s head spun towards the door, she hadn’t even heard him come in. 

“You haven’t been gone five minutes Silva, whatcha do now?” 

“I, uh, left my phone… You okay, Chica?” 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Ajay asked, hands on her hips.

“You were just fast asleep!” 

“Just restin’ my eyes.” 

“Che. Ya hair was resting in a half empty bowl of peanuts,” Octane laughed, now crossing his arms. Ajay reached up and felt her hair. She hadn’t even noticed one of the buns had fallen out, much less covered in peanut salt. She attempted to brush it out, but only made the situation worse. Finally, she gave up and sighed.

“I’m tired, Silva,” she admitted. “I’ve been working non-stop since we got back, ya know that.” This made Octane frown. He felt slightly guilty, he always told her not to worry about him, but she always did, she was always there to patch him up. And, he had been being a little more reckless than usual. 

“Alright,” he finally spoke. “You are coming with me!” 

“Ta go where exactly?” Ajay asked, eyebrows raised. “I’ve still got work here.” 

“It can wait! I’ve got a fuzzy blanket at home with your name on it!” 

“You still have that?! My nana gave that ta me!” 

“Then I guess ya better come over and grab it!” And with that, Octane sped out the door for the second time. Ajay shook her head with a sigh. “Don’t make me carry you!” Octavio called out.

“Alright, alright! I’m comin’,” she muttered, although now there was a small grin on her face. A rest did sound pretty good.


	15. Day 15: Skull

The trails were almost complete. They had spent the last week overseeing the construction, days being spent at the top of the mountain, watching as the workers used their technology to tear apart the beautiful, natural mountain. 

When they told Bloodhound that they were going to be able to do a town takeover in the area, they had assumed it would take place in the fields behind the mountain, not inside of it, so they had agreed, suggesting the idea of testing legends strengths for better loot. 

They spent the first few days of the excavation grumbling about it, but as they got closer and closer to completion, even Bloodhound had to admit it was looking very “epic” as Octane had put it. 

Bloodhound had been given more freedom to decorate the inside, adding more nordic designs where they could. They had also insisted that they help carve the raven statues that would hold the loot. 

They also knew that having this part of the map dedicated to them, opened up space for them to share more about themselves and their life with their fellow legends. This sounded daunting at first, Bloodhound was sure that none of them even know they had been raised on this very planet, and this caused them to doubt the entirety of the trails. 

It had been Mirage who suggested they decorate the trails with some of the “cool old stuff” they kept in their room on the dropship, unaware of how personal some of the items were to Hound. But, the games people promised to ensure the safety of anything that they would bring in and soon Bloodhound found themselves hanging Artur’s shield and helm in a corner of the trails. 

Next, they enlisted the help of Mirage and Wattson to create a holographic Charge Rifle that would shine through the darkness of the inside of the artificial caves. Those two were the first that heard what Bloodhound had to say about the weapon, how Bloodhound was often caught in the middle between the new and the old ways. 

With all of that, Bloodhound felt that there was still something missing. One final touch to the trails that would make it complete. They stood in their tiny room on the dropship, arms folded in front of their chest, trying to decide what object would be the best.

Then, their eyes shifted upwards and a grin grew over their face. The flyer skull. It had been their first hunt, after the beast. They treasured that skull, both to honour the life that it once held and as a memory, one that they wished that they would have been able to share with their Uncle Artur. But, if they were to put it in their trails, they would now be able to share the memory with their new family, the legends.


	16. Day 16: Growth

From a young age, Alexander Nox understood that if he wanted to be successful in his field, there would be no time for anyone else in his life. Not that any of the relationships he had had with other people had ever worked out, no one shared his same mindset and that made it impossible for him to even begin to care. 

These ideals only became cemented in the chemist’s mind after the incident at the labs. He had made the mistake of letting himself get comfortable with the other scientists around him, believing that these people, unlike anyone else he had met, understood the value of scientific advancement. 

For the only time in his life, he had been wrong. Those people held more value for each other than they did for science and because of that, well, he did what he had to do. 

The Apex Games proved to be a valuable asset after he had opted to leave Humbert Labs. The games offered unlimited access to new test subjects, unlimited, raw data that would be extremely beneficial to his research, and ultimately, the entire scientific community. 

Newly named Caustic quickly rose to fame in the games, for reasons that he could only chalk up to mean others were finally able to see what he saw, the importance of scientific development. And, for the most part, the other participants in the competitions would leave him alone outside of matches, something he was grateful for, especially now that he was getting better results with his work than he had ever had in previous work environments. The ‘legends’ left him alone, and he was happy to return the favour. 

But then, something changed. One of the universe's most brilliant minds, other than himself of course, died. Luc Paquette had been one of the key scientists in making the Apex Games possible, Alexander had considered himself lucky to have met the man, the conversations they had were some of the most intellectually stimulating discussions he had had in many, many years. So, when he heard the news of his passing, Caustic decided to go and pay his respects, for the scientific community lost a brilliant mind. 

It was at the reception afterwards that Dr. Nox had noticed something rather particular. A girl, hiding under the kitchen table. At first, Caustic had turned around, wanting to leave this child to her emotions, when he realized just who it was under there. Paquette’s daughter. 

He recalled hearing the man mention his offspring in a couple of their conversations, how he said she was one day going to outsmart the both of them, something he had scoffed at. But now, she was the only thing left of one of the smartest people the Outlands had ever seen. The only one left to live up to his legacy.

It dawned on Caustic that if this young woman really did share his intellect, that she would one day be able to provide the world with scientific advancements, she would not be able to do so in her given state. Her father had been the only one to keep pushing her, motivating her to continue her work. And with him gone… 

“Hello there,” Caustic soon found himself crouched down on the floor, beside the young woman. He had never been good with other people, but he did understand how some of their emotions worked, how he would have to ‘connect’ with her in order to keep scientific advancements on track, what he knew others would see as ‘growth’ to his character. But, some sacrifices like these needed to be made. “I am sorry for your loss. I had been acquainted with your father.”


	17. Day 17: Home

Sometimes, I like to fantasize over where my creator calls his home and where we are going to live together after I find him! I would be happy to stay with him no matter where he resides now!

Maybe he lives alone, in a small, rustic cabin in the forest. It’s decorated with all sorts of fun, wooden furnishings. Perhaps he likes to make carvings and the two of us are going to spend our days whittling different things. Of course he would have to teach me first, but I bet I’ll be great at it!

Maybe he lives in a castle! The castle is made of stone and has plenty of winding staircases. I can stay in one of the tall towers, like a princess! The dining room has a very long table that we would sit on opposite ends of, like in the movies! I could also cook him supper every day so that the table is always full of delicious food!

Maybe he lives in a space station that is orbiting his favourite planet! I hear there are lots of them around Gaea! The two of us can spend our days turning off the gravity and flying around like superheroes! He would be Batman and I could be Robin, his trusty sidekick! 

Or, maybe he lives on his own tropical island, spending his days suntanning under a large palm tree. I don’t think I can tan, but lying in the sand sounds like a lot of fun! We will have matching beach towels, because both of our favourite colours are blue! At night, we will sit on the porch, looking up at the beautiful sky, he would listen to me tell him all about the different constellations in the sky!

Wherever he lives, I cannot wait to make it my home as well! I’m not sure when that will be, but that is okay because for now, I get to live with all of my best friends! And as long as they are around, I am happy to call the Apex Games my home!


	18. Day 18: Sky

“The skies reveal danger upon us,” Bloodhound spoke into their coms as the first of Bangalore’s missiles began to fall. They grabbed their only remaining squad member, Octane, by the collar and dragged him behind cover.

“Oh, c’mon amigo!” the speedster protested. “I could easily outrun that! Look!” Bloodhound sent a glare back his way, a message easily received, despite the mask covering their face. Octane put his hands up. “Okay, yeesh.”

“There will be a time for running,” Bloodhound said. Octane rolled his eyes, grateful for his own goggles that hid his face. He thought about making a snide comment, but by the time he came up with the perfect burn, the hunter had already disappeared from beside him. 

“Wait, what?” Octane mumbled under his breath. He poked his head around the corner wondering where his teammate had gone off to without saying anything. “You’ve got to be kidding!” he exclaimed upon seeing Bloodhound in the middle of a fight, trying to take on both Bangalore and Wattson with just their axe.

For a brief moment he wondered if this was how his teammates fell when he ran off. The thought quickly faded as he watched Bloodhound actually win the fight they had picked, something he rarely did when he ran off alone, not that he would admit that. Covered in blood, Bloodhound stumbled back over to Octane, applying a syringe into their wrist. 

“Uh-” Octane started. 

“There’s more coming,” Bloodhound interrupted. 

“You wanna take these one’s on your own too, or?” Octane teased. 

“If you wish to sit out, then yes,” Bloodhound replied while reloading an Eva-8, the comment flying right over their head. 

“Like Hell I do!” Octane exclaimed, placing a jump pad on the ground in front of him and running at it full speed, leaving Bloodhound in the dust. They went to go and follow him, knowing the chances of him winning a three v one to be slim, when they looked ahead at who they would be facing. Gibraltar’s team.

“Oh…” Bloodhound said under their breath before looking back up at the skies. “Octane!” they called out. “The skies reveal danger upon us!”


	19. Day 19: Target

“Relax your shoulders,” Anita Williams instructed the newbie in front of her. “And steady your hands.” 

“S-sorry,” the man stuttered, causing Anita to roll her eyes. She hated getting stuck on training duty. The games were supposed to have people for this. Sure none of them were as good as her, but was it so much to ask for one day to spend to herself in the range? 

That’s what today had started out as. Just her and a set of brand new Peacekeepers that needed some breaking in. But, when they brought in the new guy and saw her there, they quickly sent away his assigned trainer.

“Teach him all you know!” the PR guy had said with a grin. “I have no doubt that he’ll be on your team one day!” he exclaimed before quickly leaving before she had the chance to protest. Anita cast her gaze back upon the man and watched him miss yet another shot, wondering how the hell he had gotten through the qualifiers. 

“Okay, that’s enough with that,” she interrupted before he had the chance to fire another shot into the rocks. The man in front of her looked embarrassed. 

“I-I promise I’m good at this! Exeter-Extra-E-uhordiary, really good!” The soldier folded her arms across her chest. 

“Why are you here?” 

“Excuse me?” 

“The games. Something had to have motivated you to get here. What is it?” 

“Uh, oh you know, the fans a-and fame…” the man trailed off and Anita raised her eyebrows. The man saw her look and sighed. “My mother,” he said. “She needs, well, I’m all she has left.” At this Anita nodded, this was something she could work with.

“Okay, good. Here.” She handed him back the P2020. “Imagine her before you shoot. Not about if she is watching, or worrying, or anything like that. Just try to picture her smile. Then, take a deep breath and fire.” 

“Really?” the other asked. Anita nodded. “Okay…” He took aim with the P2020 and for a brief moment, he shut his eyes. Anita saw him smile. After watching him fire, it was her turn to smile as she looked at the target.

“Bullseye, kid.”


	20. Day 20: Friendship

“Friend! I-” the first robot started to exclaim.

“I’m not your friend,” the second interrupted.

“I found an extended organize you requested,!” Pathfinder went on, not seeming to hear the other.

“Oh. Give me that,” Revenant demanded, grabbing the purple item from Pathfinder’s hands. 

“You’re welcome, friend!” 

“I’m not your friend. Do not speak to me.” 

“Okay! I love you!” At this, the other robot grunted. Why was this thing so insistent on being his friend? Time after time after time he would tell the MRVN to get lost, get out of his face but somehow every time without fail, Pathfinder would greet the other as his friend. And it pissed him off. 

The two went on in the match, silence now falling between them. There were eight more duos left and the pair was already in the next ring, meaning it was in their best interest to stay put and defend the high ground.

“Give us a zip-line,” Revenant demanded, pointing at a set of rocks that would provide an advantage. 

“Okay, friend!” Revenant scowled at Pathfinder, though Pathfinder didn’t seem to care. Or notice. Once the zip-line had been set up, they both lay down on their bellies, Pathfinder pulling out the sniper rifle he had picked. Revenant had opted for a shotgun, so he simply sat and observed. 

As he did so, Revenant noticed that the other robot had failed to find himself a scope for the Longbong. He could hear Path’s optics trying to focus, zooming in then zooming out again. Over and over. Finally, with a grunt, he jumped down off of their high spot. 

“Stay here,” he told Pathfinder as he made his way to the set of buildings close by. Pathfinder watched curiously as he tore through the buildings and the loot bins nearby. The screen on his chest changed from a question mark when Revenant came back up the zip-line towards him. “Here,” he said, tossing a 2-4 scope beside Path’s head. 

“Wow!” Path exclaimed, picking up the scope. “Thank you, friend!” 

“I’m NOT your friend,” 

“But you brought me a present! That’s what friends do!” 

“We are not friends,” Revenant repeated. 

“Okay then! Let’s be brothers instead!”


	21. Day 21: Scar

The young girl brushed her fingers along the side of her face, trailing the scar all the way down to her fingertips. It had been an accident, what had happened. Though it had been many years ago, she could still remember the feeling, the pain of the electricity as it surged through her body. 

Natalie could recall the look on her father’s face when he had found her, having heard her screams. She remembers his eyes as relief flooded them when she woke up. How Papa held her in his arms, how gentle he was as they bandaged the marks. 

She could feel tears forming in her eyes as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She placed her hand on the side of her face and closed her eyes, trying to take deep breaths, like Papa had shown her. But it was hard sometimes, the memories of pain becoming too much, making her skin feel like it was tingling again. She wished Papa could be with her now, to be held in his arms one more time…

“Felagi?” A hand was placed on her shoulder. Natalie turned around to see Bloodhound standing there. “Is everything alright?” they asked, voice as gentle as Papa’s used to be. The electrician sniffled and gave a small nod. Bloodhound quietly pulled up another chair, sitting beside her. They took their hand off her shoulder and softly grabbed the hand she had resting on her scar, holding it in between theirs.

“I-” Natalie started, but stopped herself, struggling to find words. She hadn’t thought anyone was watching. But here was Bloodhound, the Outland’s most fearsome hunter, someone who usually avoided the other legends, was holding her hand.

“It’s okay,” Bloodhound said, filling the silence. They had seen her tracing the scar from their room on the dropship. “I understand what it is like.” Natalie sniffled again,

“You do?” 

“They hold so many memories…” the hunter trailed off, they could tell the other was skeptical of their words. They quickly looked around the dropship, making sure no other legends were around. They let go of Wattson’s hand and slowly removed the helmet off of their head. Natalie’s mouth fell open slightly at the sight. How their face was covered in dark scars.

“Oh, Bloodhound…” she said quietly. She moved her chair so that she was sitting in front of the hunter, hovering her hands in front of their face. “M-may I?” she asked softly. Bloodhound nodded and she gently placed her hands on the scars, beginning to trace them. “What happened?” 

“An accident, when I was young,” they said. “I still remember every detail-”

“Like it was yesterday,” Natalie finished for them. “Well I think they’re beautiful,” she said, taking her hands off of their face. Bloodhound offered her a smile before putting the mask back over their face.

“As are yous,” they told her. Natalie grinned wide,

“We are like twins!” she giggled. “Deux d'une sorte!” Bloodhound nodded in agreement.

“Two of a kind.”


	22. Day 22: Scar

Robots aren’t supposed to dream. Hell, they aren’t even supposed to sleep. It’s not like his body needed it anymore. But, here he was. Clawing at the bedsheets as his mind flashed through different images. Playing his deaths over and over and over. These weren’t dreams. No, there were nightmares. 

Finally, he snapped himself out of it, springing up in his bed. His mind telling him he was sweating and out of breath, although his body was no longer attached. He crumpled up his bedsheets into a ball, throwing it at the wall with a grunt. 

And why was he still tired?! 

“That’s it,” he grumbled, making his way to the door of his room on the dropship. He would sooner let his human brain tell him he is dying of exhaustion than fall asleep again.

The dropship was quiet, the skinsuits long asleep. Even the other robot had similar charging schedules so he would sleep when the others did. He stalked his way to the kitchen, eyeing the leftover bottles of booze, wishing he had a mouth to be able to drown out the dream, no the memories.

He opted to head to the couch, about to flop down on it, when he noticed a figure sitting there, sipping her own drink. She looked up and saw Revenant, having watched him pace around the kitchen, and brought her feet up so he could sit down, which he did with a loud huff.

“Nightmares too, hey?” 

“Do not speak to me.” Revenant crossed his arms. “You know nothing of nightmares, soldier.” At this, Bangalore laughed.

“You’d be surprised.” She took a long sip out of the bottle. “I’ve seen a lot of destruction. It sticks with you, watching others die…”

“And I’ve lived through it,” Revenant said with a hiss. Bangalore shook her head, 

“I can’t even imagine what that must feel like.” She looked down at her drink, “You need this more than I do.” At this Revenant scoffed. He stood back up off of the couch, debating going back to his room to find something to smash when he looked back down at the soldier on the couch. It seemed her dreams kept her up even more than his own, and she actually needed to sleep. 

With a sigh, Revenant made his way back over to the kitchen. He broke the lock to Mirage’s stash of drinks that he saved for ‘special occasions’ and poured a glass of whisky. He brought it back over to Bangalore and put the glass down on the table. 

“Drink that for me,” he said as he walked back to his room. “One of us should be reaping the benefits.”


	23. Day 23: Meal

He could always tell when his friends were feeling sad face. Sometimes it was after a bad game, other times in the middle of the night. Sometimes they would just be sad. And that made him sad face as well. 

Usually, when one of his friends was sad, he always knew the best way to go about cheering them up. Helping Elliott pick out a cool outfit, going to the firing range with Bangalore, or watching funny cat videos with Natalie! 

But recently, for some reason, it wasn’t just one of his friends feeling sad. It was all of them. They were hardly speaking to each other ever since they built the new robot friend! He wasn’t sure why they all felt this way, completing the mission was an accomplishment! 

Some things humans did were still very confusing. He didn’t understand what had happened, no matter how hard he tried. Dr. Friend Caustic and friend Natalie were avoiding each other, friend Ajay and friend Octavio weren’t talking, and something even weirder was going on with friend Crypto! 

“I don’t like it when my friends are mad at sad at each other,” he was saying to his most trusted friend. 

“I know buddy. But sometimes that’s just the way it is,” Elliott said, still focusing on doing his hair in the mirror. “It’s not like you can fix it with one of your Leviathan’s Stew!” An exclamation point appeared on the robot’s screen.

“That’s a great idea! Everyone loves food!” 

“Wait, Path-” 

“I’ll let you know when supper is ready, friend!” And with that, he was out the door. 

These days, it was a little harder to find everything he needed to make his famous stew. Some of the ingredients weren’t as easy to find on Solace as they were other places. But that was okay! It was all going to be worth it! 

He spent the rest of the day preparing the meal, making sure that it was going to be the best Leviathan Stew he had ever made. His friends couldn't possibly be sad face if they all had yummy stew inside of them!

As supper grew closer he sent out a text message to each of his friends, inviting them to come and share a meal with each other. Then, all he had to do was wait. And wait. 

Why was no one showing up? The stew was going to get cold… 

“Heyy Pathy,” Mirage finally popped his head into the dining room on the dropship. 

“Hi, friend!”

“No one here?” The robot shook his head, his screen now displaying his own sad face. 

“I spent all day cooking for them! I’m sure they’ll show up!” 

“Yeah…” the trickster sighed. He thought for a second, looking at the tin can’s chest, the blue tinge illuminating the room. “Alright. One second pal.” Mirage stepped out of the room, shutting the door behind him. The next sound Pathfinder heard was his friend shouting. He couldn’t quite make out what he was saying, but when the door opened again, the rest of his friends came walking through the door!

The screen on his chest lit up with the regular happy face. 

“Hi friends!” he exclaimed. “I made you all stew! And I used my secret ingredient! Love!”


	24. Day 24: Hobby

Talos was boring. Like, super boring. At least when the games were on Solace there were plenty of places to go. Clubs, bars, racing tracks, and so on. Here, there was nothing! It was driving him insane. 

The entertainment choices included driving every legend on the dropship crazy or running around in the woods outside. Both of which he had done within the first few hours of arriving on the planet. Now they had been there for weeks. He was running out of ideas. 

This is why he had decided to put a jump pad outside of each legends room this morning. Laughing hysterically as each one of them got up and either noticed the jump pad and scowled or walked onto it, sending them flying.

This was also why he was currently running for his life off as an angry Ajay chased him down. 

“Get back here Silva!” she yelled, running him off of the ramp to the dropship. Octane laughed as he injected another stim into himself. 

“C’mon chica! Try to catch me!” he yelled behind him, taking off into the nearby woods. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, enjoying the feeling of the wind in his face. When he opened them again, he looked behind him to see that Lifeline had given up and gone back inside. He slowed his pace down with a sigh. So much for something fun to do this morning.

Octane figured it would be best if he didn’t go back to the ship for a while, to give Ajay a chance to calm down, maybe even clean up his mess. A run didn’t sound like that bad of an idea anyway. He picked up the pace again, heading further into the trees, wondering how far he could get before his lungs gave out. 

He was a few miles into the run when he heard an odd sound. Someone was whistling. Octane skidded to a stop, tilting his head. Who the hell was out here? He decided to follow the noise, figuring finding the source of the melodic whistling was a lot more interesting than running. 

It didn’t take him long to locate the person. He didn’t want to disturb them so he slowly crept closer and closer until he could who it was. 

“Bloodhound?” he asked himself under his breath. They were currently sitting up in a tree, knife in hand. They looked to be whittling something. “Boring,” he muttered. Octane was about to take off again, but when he went to turn around he accidentally stepped onto a branch. 

Bloodhound’s head snapped up and before Octane knew what was happening, the knife they had just been using to carve was inches from his head. He let out a small yelp,

“Just me amigo!” he cried as the hunter lept down from the tree they had been lounging in. 

“Octavio?” Octane waved. “What are you doing out here?” 

“I could ask you the same question,” he teased. Bloodhound just glared at him. “Okay, fine, I was just out for a run.” At this, Bloodhound nodded. “So what are you doing?” Bloodhound held up the small piece of wood in their hands. In it, Octavio could make out a carving of a raven. It was impressive. “I guess we all have our hobbies, hey?” he said with a laugh. “Now, do you know the way back to the ship? I may have gotten lost…”


	25. Day 25: Fear

Obviously, there was nothing he was scared of. Nothing. Nope. Him? Never. He was an Apex Legend for crying out loud! The best, most talented, most handsome legend ever to exist! Him being scared of something would be like if Pathfinder were to stop liking high-fives, never going to happen! 

The statue on the dresser behind him was just a reminder of how amazing he was. The man in the statue was the one that people of the Outlands saw. And if Mirage wasn’t scared of anything, then neither was Elliott Witt. That’s just how it works. 

He finished applying the gel into his hair, giving it the perfect style. Enough gel that it kept its shape, but not too much gel that it still kept it’s bounce. 

“Hey, handsome,” he said to the mirror, giving himself a wink. 

“Hi, friend!” A voice spoke up. Mirage nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Path!” he exclaimed, putting a hand above his heart. “How long have you been standing there?!” 

“One minute and twenty-three seconds!” 

“Why?” 

“Well, I didn’t want to disturb you. The song you were singing sounded very good!”

“I was singing?” he asked quietly, more to himself then the robot. “Nevermind, I meant why are you here? In my room?” 

“Oh! I found this!” Pathfinder held out his hand. In his palm sat the trickster’s cell phone. “It was under your boat in the snow! I didn’t want it to get cold so-”

“Give me that,” Mirage interrupted, snatching the phone. He felt his stomach to a backflip as he turned it on, seeing the accidental recording he had made of his recent phone call. “I-” he started, looking up at the robot. If he had listened to that conversation...“What did you see?” 

“I saw a phone! And I knew it was yours so-” 

“No, Path,” Mirage put a hand on his face. He closed his eyes for a second, thinking about what would happen if the robot was to find out about his mom. About what any of the others would do. “Did you see anything on my phone?” 

“Just some snow!” 

“I mean-” he cut himself off. “Nevermind. Just, just go.” 

“Okay friend! I love you!” and with that, Pathfinder left his room. Mirage sighed, clutching the phone to his chest. He sat down on the edge of his bed, eyeing the message. 

“How’s the most beautiful woman in the Outlands?” His own voice was saying. In current time, tears were welling up in his eyes. 

Okay. Maybe he did have one fear.


	26. Day 26: Holiday

Something was different on the dropship. They’d all gone to bed for the night, everyone wanting a good night’s sleep before the game today. But, when they had gone to bed, the dropship was normal. 

Today, however, when the legends came out of their rooms, all awoken by the sound of music outside, they saw that the ship had transformed. Colourful lights were strung around the roof, paper snowflakes were scattered around, each of their rooms had a stocking hung beside the door, and to top it all off, there was a giant Christmas tree in the middle of the room. 

“Uhh,” Mirage was the first to start saying. 

“Oh no,” Octane began to mutter.

“Hi, friends!” Pathfinder interrupted, jumping out from behind the tree. He had a Santa hat on his head and was wearing a red knitted sweater “Merry Christmas!” 

“Path, it’s July!” Bangalore exclaimed. 

“Don’tcha know Christmas is in December?” Lifeline asked. Through the sweater, a question mark could be seen on the robot’s chest. 

“Is it not Christmas today?” Some of the legends shook their heads. “Oh… But friend Octavio told me they moved it this year!” Everyone slowly turned to look at the speedster. 

“Uhh,” he forced a laugh. “Merry Christmas?” Ajay smacked the side of his head. 

“I’m going back to bed,” Mirage mumbled, turning around. A few of the legends murmured in agreement, each of them beginning to leave.

“But, friends!” Pathfinder started. “I-”

“Made a mess is what you did,” Caustic interrupted. “Clean it up.” The screen on Pathfinder’s chest changed to a sad face as he watched all his friends go back into their rooms. 

“I just wanted to do something special….” he finished his sentence from before. Pathfinder turned around to look at the giant tree he had set up. It had been a lot of work to get in inside without waking anyone up. And, he had spent a lot of time making all of the snowflakes, each one was unique, like all of his friends. 

Sad face still on his screen, he sat himself down on the ground. 

“Did you do this all yourself, mon amie?” a voice spoke from beside Pathfinder. He spun his head to see Wattson still there. Pathfinder nodded once. “I think it looks magnifique!” Wattson went on, now sitting down beside the robot. 

“Thank you, friend. I’m sorry I messed it up.” 

“You messed nothing up Path! It wasn’t very nice of Octane to...” she trailed off, seeing the sad face still shining on the screen. “I think we should always have a Christmas in July! It’s a much better time of year for it!” 

“I agree!” the robot exclaimed, chest now changing to a smiley face. “Would you like some breakfast friend? I made everyone pancakes, but since you are the only one still here, you can have all of them!” This caused Natalie to giggle. 

“Pancakes sound fantastic!” she said, standing up off of the floor. She held a hand down to Pathfinder and helped him up. “You go get it ready, I’ll be right there!” Pathfinder nodded and made his way over to the kitchen. He looked at the giant table he had set up and frowned again. He quickly shook the thought and pushed away all of the extra plates he had put out, squishing the napkins folded like swans.

“I even put chocolate chips in them!” Pathfinder exclaimed when Natalie made her way back. As she walked in, Path noticed she was holding something behind her back. 

“Here Path!” she said. “This is for you!” Wattson revealed a small blue Nessie plushie in her hands, a yellow bow around his neck. 

“For me?” Natalie nodded. 

“Of course! Merry Christmas Pathfinder!”


	27. Day 27: Music

It wasn’t often that the legends got a day off. It was even less often that Anita ‘Bangalore’ Williams spent that time anywhere but a bar or the firing range. But today she had reluctantly agreed to go out with some of the others for lunch. She had been expecting the conversations to be about the upcoming games so they could talk strategy, but it appeared she had misinterpreted the invite.

Thankfully, the lunch ended quickly after a certain happy robot had invited a less friendly robot who began to threaten everyone in the restaurant with promises of death. It had been amusing to watch. After being ushered out, the legends began to take their time heading back. 

It was nice to be out in the city for once, Anita thought. She was glad to be able to spend some time outdoors, enjoying the atmosphere of Solace. Although, she was quickly growing tired of listening to the others in the group complaining as they walked behind her.

Elliott was still hungry, Octavio was bored, Revenant was angry he couldn’t kill anyone, and Pathfinder was sad that they got kicked out of the restaurant before they could eat anything as if he too was going to be eating. 

She was about to break off from the group, planning an excuse in her head that could get her out of the situation when they walked past a small antique store. There were dozens of them in the city, people trying to sell old junk from before the war hoping to make a buck or two. But what caught her eye in this store, was an old acoustic guitar sitting in the window.

Anita stopped dead in her tracks, looking at the window. The guitar was a light shade of red, the strings a vibrant silver. It looked exactly like the one she and her brothers shared back home. Only this one was missing the small dent on the bottom from where Jackie had once dropped it onto the concrete after a few to many drinks that night. 

Before she knew what she was doing, Anita had walked into the store and had the guitar in her hands, a small smile spreading across her face. She closed her eyes and let her memory guide her fingers over the strings, playing a few soft chords, already forgetting about the shitshow that they tried to call lunch. 

The smile on her face grew slightly as the few chords had turned into a tune, which then turned into a song. Although, when she realized what song she was playing, she quickly stopped. 

“That’s a nice one, hey?” a voice interrupted her thoughts. She spun her head to see the shopkeeper standing by her. Had he been listening the whole time? “My parents played that song for me the night before I got deployed.” 

“Mine too,” Anita said sadly. She looked down at the guitar in her hands, then back up to the store owner. “How much?”


	28. Day 28: Treasure

Of course the smiling robot was the only one who offered to help her. She offered all of them a chance to make some extra cash, all they had to do was help her locate a certain gold necklace that was supposedly ‘lost’ somewhere in Solace City. 

Not that she needed the help. She’d done plenty of jobs like this before she wound up in the games but it wouldn’t hurt to have a few extra sets of eyes. Maybe even try to get on some of their good sides again after the whole incident with the artifact. She had framed the offer as a chance for a fun night out, she even promised to buy drinks at the end of the night. So why was it that it was the robot that showed up?! 

Now, she was stuck, trudging through the mud on the outskirts of the city with a giant blue robot happily trotting beside her. They had been wandering for an hour already. The tip she was given said that the dropbox was somewhere around here and the robot beside her telling a story about some stew he could make.

“Shut up,” Loba finally snapped. The robot looked at her, an exclamation point now on his chest. “Please,” she quickly added, not wanting to piss off the only thing that wanted to help. “I’m trying to think.” 

“Okay friend!” Pathfinder responded, the screen switching back to his usual smiley face. The silence only lasted for a couple of seconds before the robot felt the need to speak up again. “Maybe if you showed me the clue that was left, I can help you find the treasure!” Loba rolled her eyes. She thought about telling him to be quiet again, but the sun had already long set and her feet were getting sore. 

“Fine,” she huffed, digging into her pockets to pull out the clue that had been left about where the necklace had been stored. Pathfinder looked at the paper, question mark now illuminating his chest as he read it. At least it was keeping him quiet. 

“I know where this is friend Loba!” he finally said a few seconds later.

“You do?” 

“Of course! Follow me!” And with a pep in his step, Pathfinder took off. “What treasure are we going to find?” he asked once Loba caught up with him. 

“My treasure,” she corrected. “But, if you must know, it’s an old necklace.” 

“Wow! I bet it will look very good on you friend!” 

“I’m not going to wear it,” Loba scoffed, ignoring the compliment. “I’m going to sell it.” 

“Well, then I bet whoever wears it is going to look great!” 

“Whatever.” The pair continued walking in silence, Pathfinder leading them closer into the city again, the screen on his chest lighting up the dark streets for them. Finally, Pathfinder came to a stop. 

“It should be right around here!” he declared. Loba nodded and put her hands on her hips to think. “Hey! Maybe we can ask those people over there!” Pathfinder exclaimed a second later. 

“Wait-” 

“Hi, friends! Have you seen any treasure around here?” The people that Pathfinder was talking to began to laugh. “It’s very special!” 

“Oh yeah?” Loba heard one of the men ask. She got a bad feeling in her stomach as to where this was headed. 

“Yeah!” Pathfinder went on. “It’s worth a lot of money!” Loba put a hand on her face. “Friend Loba! I think I see it!” Pathfinder exclaimed, pointing at a small chest beside one of the buildings. Both her and the men Pathfinder had been talking to turned their heads to look at it. 

“Son of a-” Loba started, seeing the gleam in their eyes as they made a break for it. She pulled out her jump drive and tossed it towards the treasure. With her staff in her other hand, she used it to fend off the two men. “Pathfinder!” she exclaimed. 

“Do you need help, friend?” 

“Yes!” Pathfinder’s screen switched to an angry face as he to began to rush into the fight, quickly taking down the other person fighting for the necklace. 

“High-five?” he asked, holding the box in his other hand. Loba ignored his hand and went to open the box. 

“It’s empty.” 

“Oh, dear!” Pathfinder thought for a second. “Wait! I think the clue meant the west side of the city! Not the east!” Loba looked up at him, anger rising in her chest. But, before she could say anything, Pathfinder reached out and grabbed her hand. “C’mon friend! Let’s go find the treasure! It’ll be fun!”


	29. Day 29: Skin

He glanced down at the razor in his hands. He didn't mean to pick it up. He never did. It was just a habit, some cruel joke the universe liked to play on him, to remind him that he no longer was made of skin and bone. 

Revenant closed his hands around the razor, ignoring the pain his brain tried to tell him he felt in his fingers from the blade. For a brief second he could see blood dripping out of his hand. 

“Stupid programming,” he muttered to himself, throwing the crushed razor at the mirror. With a loud crash, the mirror shattered around him. At least the blood he had imagined was gone.

“What the hell?!” A voice exclaimed. If he could have, Revenant would have rolled his eyes. It was easy to forget that he was on the dropship, sharing a building with a bunch of skinsuits. He heard the sound of footsteps approaching his room, followed by the person pounding on the door. “It’s three in the morning! Keep it down!” the person shouted. 

Had he been in a better mood, Revenant would have simply ignored the person knocking at his door. But there was still an ache in his hand from an injury he didn’t even have and he wanted someone to take it out on. He swung the door to his room open, hand now transformed into a blade, ready to greet his visitor.

“I can do whatever the Hell I want,” he said with a snarl. Only he sighed a second later upon seeing who was standing outside his door. He was hoping it was someone like Mirage, someone he could easily scare and laugh as he chased him around the ship. But this time, Ajay Che was standing outside his room, her arms folded in front of her chest. 

“Ya almost worse than Silva breakin’ things at these hours!” she exclaimed, pushing past Revenant and entering his room.

“What do you think you’re-”

“Ya really gunna leave this place lookin’ like dis?” Ajay said, bending down to grab some of the items that he had tossed onto the floor during his last moment of rage. 

“I-”

“This is a hazard!” she went on, now seeing the shattered glass from the mirror on the ground. “They ain’t gunna keep giving you replacements ya know-”

“Get out!” Revenant exclaimed, interrupting her. He had lurched himself towards her, hoping to at least make her flinch. Ajay simply rolled her eyes, despite the fact that there was a blade inches from her face. “What do you want with me?” Revenant shouted. 

“I was jus’ checking up on ya.” 

“I’m fine!” 

“Then why’s there a piece of glass stickin’ out of ya shoulder, hm?” 

“There’s not-” Revenant cut himself off as he turned to see that indeed a piece of the mirror had lodged itself into him. “Hmph,” he muttered, reaching to grab it with his other hand. Except at the angle it was at, he couldn’t quite reach it and simply lodged the piece further into him, nearly scraping at some wires. He looked back down at the medic and grunted. 

“Wha’s that?” 

“Fix it,” he demanded.

“Hm? I didn’t quite hear you,” she said with a smirk. Revenant curled his hands into a fist. 

“Help me.” Ajay raised her eyebrows. “Please,” Revenant spat out. This made Ajay grin. 

“There ya go!” She went and got a chair, motioning for Revenant to sit down in it. “You wanna tell me what happened?” Revenant grunted. “Alright, don’t tell me,” she said, silently getting to work on safely getting the shard of glass out of his shoulder without doing any damage. “Ya may not be made out of skin like da rest of us, but ya still gotta be careful. You’re still human.”

“No. I’m not” 

“Please,” she chuckled a little. “Ya more human than some of the other ‘skinbags’ on this ship. Now, stop squirming unless ya wanna broken wire.”


	30. Day 30: Trust

“Don’t worry, I got you friend!” Pathfinder exclaimed as he jammed a revive needle into the chest of his teammate. He offered a hand and helped Crypto get back onto his feet. “There you go! All better!”

The hacker simply nodded in response, pulling a syringe out of his backpack.

“Unfortunately Wraith didn’t make it,” Pathfinder went on, a sad face shining on his screen. “It’s just you and me friend! We can do it!”

“Putting an eye in the sky,” Crypto said, ignoring the high five that was now being offered to him. He flew his drone out of the small building they were taking cover in. There were six squads left and with them being down a player, the odds of a win were looking grim.

“What would you like to do, friend?” Pathfinder asked, peering over Crypto’s shoulder as if to try and get a look at what his drone saw.

“We need to get some high ground,” the hacker said, eyeing the two squads that were in the area.

“I can do that! I’m very good at getting into high ground!” Pathfinder chirped, feeling excited that he was going to be able to help his team.

“We both need to get onto the high ground,” Crypto reminded him. “I don’t have a grapple.”

“And my next zip line isn’t ready yet!” At this Crypto frowned, he didn’t like the idea of staying where they were. “I have an idea!” the robot interrupted his thoughts. “Follow me!”

Pathfinder trotted outside of the building. He looked around at their surroundings, trying to decide the best cliff to get them onto. Once he found the location he put an arm around Crypto’s waist.

“Hey!” he exclaimed, jumping out of the robots grasp. “What are you doing?!” Pathfinder screen displayed a question mark.

“Getting us to high ground!” he exclaimed, offering his arm back to Crypto. “Friend, do you trust me?”

“Uh,” Crypto bit his bottom lip, unsure of the answer to that question. He didn’t trust anyone. Everyone knew that. This robot wasn’t any different. He was about to share that thought with Pathfinder when they could hear another squad approaching them. “Okay, fine. Whatever.”

“You trust me?”

“Yes,” Crypto sighed. “I trust you.”

“Great!” Pathfinder wrapped one of his arms around Crypto again and with his other arm he reached up his grapple, sending both him and Crypto soaring to the high ground. “Wasn’t that fun?!” Crypto rolled his eyes, not wanting to admit that it was sort of fun.

“Sure,” he muttered. “I’m not trusting you again though.”


	31. Chapter 31

“Loot bunker here!” Pathfinder cheerily said to his team. “It’s like presents on my birthday! If I had one!”

“It’s still closed?” Mirage asked, walking up to his duo partner. “There’s supposed to be a gold- wait what do you mean by if you had one?” 

“If I had a what, friend?”

“A birthday!”

“Oh! Well, I don’t know when I was created, so-”

“Yeah but you still would have a birthday,” Elliott interrupted, now opening the hatch to the loot bunker. “Even if you don’t know when it is.” 

“I suppose you are right! I guess I do have a birthday! We should have a party!” Path exclaimed, smiley face on the screen on his chest. 

“Well, how can we have a party if we don’t know the correct date?” Elliott countered, now realizing he may have walked into a trap of organizing a birthday party for a robot. “Once you figure it out, then we can have a party.” This made a sad face appear on Pathfinder’s screen.

“Okay,” he said, turning around to go and pick up some more of the loot that was in the bunker. “Hey, best friend?” he asked a few moments later.

“Yeah Tin Can?” 

“What’s a birthday party feel like?” Mirage’s eyes went wide. 

“Uh, I dunno…” he trailed off, thinking. “It’s fun, I guess. Everyone is there to wish you well, there are presents and cake and-” he cut himself off as he looked back at Pathfinder. “But obviously, pretty boring,” he quickly added. “You wouldn’t like having a birthday party anyway.”

“Okay!” Pathfinder exclaimed. “I believe you!” And with that, he happily went back to looting. Only he had left Mirage in thought. Was Pathfinder sad about all of that? Why had he lied about how fun birthday parties were? The robot had to have remembered Elliott’s last birthday party, they had all had a blast on the Voyage together. And now, he probably just taught the robot that birthday’s sucked, even though he had been so excited about the idea of having one! 

“God, I’m overthinking this,” he mumbled to himself, wondering why he felt so guilty about that tiny conversation. As the two of them left the loot bunker to carry on with the match, Elliott realized what he had to do. 

….

“Surprise!” All of the legends exclaimed. The main area of the dropship was covered in balloons and streamers, and each of the legends had on a party hat. Pathfinder displayed an exclamation point as he saw the scene in front of him.

“Hi friends!” he said. “I am surprised! I didn’t know it was someone’s birthday today!” 

“No, no, buddy,” Elliott said while walking up to Pathfinder. He grabbed an extra party hat and placed it on Pathfinder’s head. “It’s for you!” 

“But it’s not my-”

“Well after we got to talking about how you didn’t know your birthday I decided that we could just make one up!”

“I didn’t know you could do that! Can you do that?” the robot questioned. 

“Uh,” Elliott thought for a second. “Of course you can!” 

“Wow! July 31st is the best day for a birthday!” 

“It is?” 

“Of course, friend! Because you picked it!” 

“Oh, ha,” Elliott felt his face going red. “Well, anything for you my friend. Now come, I even got you a present!”


End file.
